Just in: The US has informed the Ministry of External Affairs that it has brought about a new security protocol where detained VIPs can call homeland security and also inform them ahead of their visit to the US.

Khan was detained at a New York airport for over two hours by immigration officials on Friday after arriving from India in a private plane with Nita Ambani to address students at Yale University in Washington. This is second such incident happening with the popular star in the US.

Also see on rediff.com: Omar on SRK detention: It happens all the time; get over it

Why Maneka Gandhi is frothing at the mouth.

The Supreme Court today posted to September for final hearing on whether stray dogs can be exterminated by authorities if they caused "nuisance" topeople. A bench of justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan told senior counsel Raj Panjwani appearing for Animal Welfare Board of India and others that it would hear the matter at length and pass appropriate orders. The apex court had on January 23, 2009 stayed a Bombay High Court judgement which had allowed municipal authorities in Maharashtra to kill stray dogs causing "nuisance". The board in its appeal had maintained that unless the term "nuisance" was clearly defined the order of the high court cannot be  mplemented. It was pointed out that two sets of legislations existedon treatment of stray dogs in Mumbai.

517 votes -- it was all that separated 2008 Delhi blast accused Zia-ur-Rahman from a victory in the Delhi municipal elections, which his supporters claimed could have helped prove his "innocence". 

Rahman (26), currently lodged in Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad and the only candidate in the April 15 polls tocontest from prison, was defeated by Congress' sitting councillor Shoib Danish in Zakir Nagar. Danish polled 8,194 votes while Rahman managed to get 7,677 votes. 

Rahman's family and supporters had been campaigning for him in his absence as he was lodged in Ahmedabad jail. "We are in a state of shock. We lost in areas we were considering our stronger points," Amanutullah Khan, a social worker spearheading his campaign.

Nancy Powell, the first female American ambassador- designate to India, will arrive in New Delhi later this week bearing a few words of Hindi, a much-used camera and ambitious plans for the countries' relationship, according to an introductory video released Tuesday by the Embassy.

Meet her on the New York Times

A day after non-Congress Chief Ministers and an ally attacked the Centre over NCTC, Home Minister P Chidambaram today lamented the "mistrust" harboured by some states and expressed confidence that the issue would be resolved in the May 5 meeting. 

Answering criticism that the Centre was making inroads into states' powers, he said the Centre would "step back" for every step taken by the state governments in fighting terror, Maoists and accept responsibility for border management. 

Responding to questions at a press conference where he was asked about the attack on the Centre by some Chief Ministers at the conference on internal security yesterday, Chidambaram said after five conferences, it is a matter of deep regret that there is still some suspicion of the Central government. 

"It is unfortunate that some states harbour mistrust against the Central government...The Central government is willing to step back, if a state or states willing to accept more responsibility," he said.

At the conference yesterday, non-Congress Chief Ministers J Jayalalitha, Narendra Modi, Naveen Patnaik and Mamata Banerjee were sharply critical of the proposal on NCTC and other legislations that were viewed by them as as encroaching on states' policing powers.

Reaching out to Myanmar which is taking strides towards democracy, the US today said it was planning a series of moves including lifting of sanctions in
response to "courageous" steps taken by it and appreciated India for its advocacy of dialogue with regard to the country. 

Kurt Campbell, the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, said the US has invited the Myanmar foreign minister for a visit.

"We believe the government has taken bold and necessary steps. We support those steps and want them to continue," Campbell said.

"The United States believes that it must recognise the courageous efforts that have been taken to date and has made it clear that we will take these economic steps. We will support the establishment of a UNDP office inside the country," Campbell said.

Things must be really bad when we have Lalu Prasad Yadav standing up for freedom of expression. "People (drew) my cartoons, (but) I have never objected ' Something very bad has taken place in West Bengal,' Lalu-ji told the media as the Mamtoon affair refused to die down in Kolkata.

On Firstpost.com

Last week, a friend in the Army, reacting to my latest documentary on the endless-and thankless-war that Indian soldiers fight in Kashmir, paid a heartfelt compliment by calling me a 'soldier-journalist'.

Read NDTV's Nitin Gokhale's blog

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said RBI reducing lending rates along with government efforts to bring down
fiscal deficit should boost economic growth this year. 

"I think the lowering of the interest rate by the RBI combined with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's endeavours to bring the fiscal deficit down, should propel the economy upwards this year," he said on the sidelines of a government function. 

Asked whether it was possible to achieve 7.3 per cent growth rate, Ahluwalia said he expected the economy to do better than the previous year.

India's monsoon is likely to have average rainfall in 2012 despite fears the El Nino weather pattern may emerge in the second half of the season, the country's top weather official said, pointing to a third straight year without drought.

The June-September monsoon, vital for agricultural output and economic growth, irrigates around 60 percent of farms in India, the world's second-biggest producer of rice, wheat, sugar and cotton. Agriculture accounts for about 15 percent of India's nearly $2 trillion economy, Asia's third biggest.

That's the exclusive story on reuters

The Calcutta High Court today directed the distributors of "Hate Story", a Hindi film to be released soon, not to display revealing posters promoting the film.
Refusing to stay a West Bengal Government order directing the distributors not to display the posters showing actress Paoli Dam in sensuous positions, Justice Dipankar Dutta directed that the distributors and the state to file affidavits in support of their contentions.

Read on rediff.com: I have no inhibitions in front of the camera.

Amul's take on the Mamata cartoon controversy

Nasdaq-listed travel services provider MakeMytrip today said it is looking to acquire companies within the travel segment to strengthen its product portfolio.    

The travel firm that picked stake in three companies last year said it is on the lookout for "new teams and to partner with new people to enhance" its product offerings.    

"We will look out for good teams across segments within travel and related technology areas," MakeMyTrip Co-Founderand COO Keyur Joshi

Anders Behring Breivik today defended his massacre of 77 people, insisting he would do it again and calling the bomb-and-shooting rampage the most "spectacular" attack by a nationalist militant since World War II. 

Reading a prepared statement in court, the anti-Muslim extremist lashed out at Norwegian and European governments for embracing immigration and multiculturalism.

He claimed to be speaking as a commander of an "anti-communist" resistance movement and an anti-Islam militant group he called the Knights Templar. Prosecutors have said the group does not exist.

Maintaining he acted out of "goodness not evil" to prevent a wider civil war, Breivik vowed, "I would have done it again."

Another election, another defeat for the Congress! This time in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). The only silver lining for the party '" it couldn't get worse. The grand old party, that's been in power in Delhi since 1998, would be hoping that Delhi-ites have merely given vent to their anger at the MCD level. They must be thinking, good, we now have a better chance at the assembly level, when the level of anger would have reduced.

On Firstpost.com

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra on Tuesday described the party's win in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls as a verdict against Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

Speaking to mediapersons, Malhotra said: "It is a verdict against Sheila Dikshit and due to anti-incumbency. It is a verdict against corruption and price rise,' said Malhotra. Senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu hailed the party's win and attributed the party's success to good governance provided by the BJP-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

"There are three reasons for the victory of the BJP in these elections.

Number one, the good governance given by the BJP in the MCD.

Number two is the horrible corruption by the Congress Party - the number of scams.

Number three is price rise,' Naidu told reporters here. Meanwhile, the Congress Party, accepting the defeat, said they respected the people's mandate.

Amid the dispute between India and China over exploration in South China sea, the US today said the laws of the seas should apply and issues should beaddressed through dialogue. 

"We try not to get in to the business of bilateralinteractions and disputes but instead have a principled policy about the parameters on which the dialogue and discussion should be based," the US Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell said.

"All I would say is that the United States is very very careful about how we talk about and how we act in the South China sea," he told reporters when asked about the dispute between India and China over exploration in South China Sea.

China, which lays claim over South China Sea, has been opposing exploration by India there. But India has maintained that China does not have exclusive rights over the region.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a PIL which demanded that Army Chief General V K Singh should not get "post-retirement rehabilitation" in view of the recent controversies.

Dismissing the PIL, division bench of Justices Ajit Singh and R S Jha said the issue did not come in the court's purview. The court also said that petitioner failed to prove how the acts of the Army Chief had damaged the reputation of
the force. 

The PIL, filed by Bhopal-based RTI activist, V K Naswa,  referred to recent controversies, including the one related to Singh's age, alleged bribe offer made to him in Tetra truck deal, and the leak of Singh's letter to the Prime Minister, and stated that these had sullied Army's image.

A faster and enhanced version of low-cost tablet PC, Aakash, would be launched next month, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said today. 

"The second version of Aakash will be launched in May," Sibal told reporters on the sidelines of World IT forum 2012. The tablet will be produced domestically, and in this regard the government is talking to various manufacturers from across the world. 

"After freezing the technology, we will start manufacturing it. We are calling people from across the world to manufacture it and some people have shown interest," Sibal said.

The new tablet would have a better 3200m AH battery with a three-hour backup, a 700 MHz Cortex A8 processor and a capacitive touch screen which would get over the earlier issues observed in the tablets, Sibal had said earlier.

Also read on Rediff.com: Aakash Tablet: Why I REGRET buying it! 

Toxic gases hampered on Tuesday the search for 138 people buried by an avalanche at a high-altitude Pakistan Army camp, as teams from the United States and Norway arrived at the site to help operations.   A huge wall of snow crashed into the remote Siachen Glacier base high in the mountains in disputed Kashmir more than a week ago, smothering an area of one square kilometer.

More on Newsweek.

What is it about Alec Baldwin? Why does he capture our imagination? Because he is a mouthy, insouciant rascal with a great shtick. He's a cheeky rogue, a high-octane provocateur with a penchant for publicity, and a passion for getting his way and spilling his guts, especially on Twitter.

Read

In his article, "A Sufi message from a Pakistani President' (April 9, 2012), Saeed Naqvi not only seemed to eulogise Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's visit to India, especially his participation at the annual congregation at the mausoleum of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinudin Chishti at Ajmer, but also to propose the idea of the state and political forces partnering with Sufi Islam. This is certainly not an original idea as a number of western analysts and policymakers have expressed similar enthusiasm for co-opting Sufi Islam as a source for bringing peace in the Muslim world.  

Read Ayesha Siddiqa's response to Saeed Naqvi on the Hindu.

The state CID has written to Facebook to delete certain morphed images of CM Mamata Banerjee after a Trinamool Congress supporter lodged a complaint, citing specific posts and "objectionable comments" flooding social networking sites.

Read more

Making a case for raising prices of diesel, kerosene and LPG, the Reserve Bank today said hike in rates of petroleum products is necessary to arrest fiscal
slippages. 

"Overall from the perspective of vulnerabilities emerging from the fiscal and current account deficits, it is imperative for macroeconomic stability that administered prices of petroleum products are increased to reflect their true costs of production," RBI Governor D Subbarao said in the Annual Monetary Policy Statement for 2012-13. 

While petrol prices are market-linked, the government fixes the rates of LPG, kerosene and diesel, which results in a large budgetary expenditure on subsidies.

Honorary Captain Bana Singh won the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest ranking gallantry award, for recapturing a Pakistani post on the Siachen Glacier. Living a retired life in a quiet village in Jammu and Kashmir, he makes you feel that his act of phenomenal courage was part of a soldier's day at work.

Read Archana Masih's report on rediff.com 

For some women a workout can have an enjoyable side-effect -- it gives them an orgasm. In fact, exercise orgasms might not be as rare as you'd think, a recent US study found.

'Coregasms' are most common during ab workouts, but anything from weight lifting to yoga can be orgasmic for some women. Almost one-quarter of women have had an orgasm while exercising, according to a US survey of 530 women aged 18-63.

And we're not talking about the exercise-obsessed, or about women with a fetish for working out.

Read more on rediff.com

Looking for a job?

Google is looking to hire a new doodler, a graphic designer or an illustrator, to work on special designs that celebrate historic figures and events on its home page.  

The job demands a person with a 'sense of humor, love of all things historical and imaginative artistry.' 'First impressions matter,' Google said in a message to Doodlers.

Causing more embarrassment toWest Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is drawing flak over the arrest of a professor for circulating cartoons, singer-turned-Trinamool Congress MP Kabir Suman has composed a song, "Hasi Niye Thako" (Live with a smile), mocking the state government.

Suman has had a strained relationship with the Trinamool leadership after he raised his voice against alleged corruption among a section of party leaders and openly condemned the joint forces operation in the Maoist-infested districts of the state.

Read

Dr Partho Sarothi Ray, languishing in a Kolkata jail, is a molecular biologist by training but is passionate about political economy and has views which many may consider radical.  The young scientist is a vocal critic of, what he calls, LPG policies - liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation - being pursued in the country since 1991.

Read more on the Daily Mail.

Bharat Earth Movers Limited Chairman and Managing Director V Natarajan was questioned by the CBI on Tuesday in connection with the controversy over the deal to supply the all-terrain Tatra trucks to the Army.

The CBI is investigating the BEML-Tatra deal following Army Chief General VK Singh''s allegations that he was offered a bribe of Rs.14 crore by a former Army officer lobbying for the truck.

It is likely to ask Natarajan the reasons for allegedly renewing the supply contract with Tatra Sipox UK in 2003 much before it was required in 2006.

An Asian policeman who was jailed after being framed by colleagues won 841,000 in compensation yesterday. Sultan Alam, 49, said his reputation had now been restored following an 18-year fight for justice that wrecked his career, two marriages and his health.

Read more on the Daily Mail 

The United States has said that it will continue to press Islamabad to "squeeze" the al-Qaeda linked Haqqani network, as Afghanistan blamed the Pakistan-based group for the latest brazen attacks in Kabul. 

Declaring "there were indications of Haqqani involvement" in the weekend attacks in the Afghan capital, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that she had pressed Pakistan to "squeeze" the Haqqani network when she visited Islamabad last October.

"I will continue to make that point, and press it hard," Clinton was quoted by Fox News as telling reporters in the Brazilian capital Brasilia, where she described the Pakistan-based outfit as a "determined foe".

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi received some relief from the Delhi High court which has retrained his former  driver and media houses from publishing the contents of a CD which allegedly contains content of him in compromising positions. The court has restrained media houses including Aaj Tak, Headlines Today and The India Today Group from publishing the CD which was prepared by Mukesh Kumar Lal, who worked for Singhvi as a driver.

More on Firstpost.com

When in church, wear what the preacher tells you. So says the Synod Executive Committee, a decision-making body of the largest church in the north-eastern Indian state of Mizoram.

All women attending places of worship should refrain from wearing see-through dresses, clothes that expose the breasts or are too tight-fitting '" and trousers -- according to a dress code prescribed for Presbyterian Church of India members. The guidelines also say men must wear clean shoes and respectable suits.

Read the reuters report

What an election it was! Winning a tsunami of a mandate with 225 out of 294 seats in 2011, Mamata Banerjee was called the Indian Lech Walesa: the anti-communist "hero' who defeated the mighty communists through democratic politics. Last year I had dubbed her a subaltern goddess, Kali of the footpath, or West Bengal's new Ma Durga in a crumpled sari, who resided not in a remote shrine but fought her battle on the streets among her voters.

More

In recent weeks, the civil-military cold war in India has thrown into the public domain alarming facts -- from corruption to lack of preparedness. In a three-part series, defense expert and Jane's Defence Weekly Special Correspondent Rahul Bedi minces no words in outlining the problems the country's armed forces face.

Read the exclusive report on rediff.com.

Analysts are debating the cause of malaise at Infosys Ltd. following a run of poor financial results and another weak outlook for revenue growth from the Indian software exporter.

Read the story on WSJ

In a huge relief to the Maharashtra government, the judicial commission of inquiry looking into the Adarsh housing scam has held that the land on which the
controversial building stands belongs to the state and not the army. 

The two-member panel, which had submitted its interim report to the  government last Friday, has also held that the building was not reserved for war heroes and Kargil widows. 

The interim report was discussed by the Maharashtra cabinet today, sources close to the development said, adding it is likely to be tabled in the legislature later in the day. 

The commission headed by former Bombay High Court judge J A Patil includes former state Chief Secretary P Subramanian.
The report, according to sources, has thrown light on the issues of ownership of

the land on which the 31-storey high-rise stands in upscale Colaba, and if it was reserved for war heroes and Kargil conflict widows.

The allegations in the case are that the land was allotted by the state government to the Adarsh Society though it belonged to the Defence Ministry, and the building came up in violation of several civic and environmental norms.

The state government had approached the commission a few months ago seeking an interim report on the points of title and reservation.

A Pakistani court has taken up a petition seeking the registration of a case against film star Meera on charges of allegedly having an abortion. 

Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Ayub Khan admitted the petition filed by a man named Muhammad Islam and served a notice to police to investigate the matter. Islam said in his petition that a recent news report had stated that Meera had recently had an abortion.

He contended that since the actress claimed to be a virgin, her act of having an abortion was "illegal and un-Islamic". 

He asked the court to direct authorities to register a case against Meera under the controversial Hudood Ordinance, a law enacted in 1979 that lays down strict punishment for offences like extra-marital sex and drinking alcohol.

Korean-American physician Jim Yong Kim, who has been selected as new President of the World Bank, has said he will seek a new alignment of the body with a rapidly changing world.

"As President, I will seek a new alignment of the World Bank Group with a rapidly changing world," Kim said in a statement after the World Bank announced that he has been selected to replace Robert Zoellick on July 1.

"Together, with partners old and new, we will foster an institution that responds effectively to the needs of its diverse clients and donors; delivers more powerful results to support sustained growth ... amplifies the voices of developing countries ...," he said. 

The World Bank picked Seoul-born Kim over NigerianFinance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Ruchir Joshi's open letter to Mamata Banerjee in the Telegraph, published a day after the Jadavpur university professor was arrested for the cartoon on the CM.

Read

The BSE benchmark Sensex spurted by over 222 points in late morning trade today after the Reserve Bank cut short-term lending rate to support the economic growth.

The 30-share index spurted by 222.33 points to trade at 17,373.28 soon after RBI announced cut in short-term lending rate, repo rate, by 0.50 percentage point. Similarly, the National Stock Exchange Nifty index shot up by 67.20 points to 5,293.40 points. 

The upsurge was mostly lead by interest rate sensitive stocks such as banking, realty and auto. Realty major DLF was trading higher by 1.55 per cent at Rs 202.60, while banking behemoth SBI gained 1.58 per cent to trade at Rs 2,301.10. Private lender ICICI Bank rose by 1.13 per cent to Rs 883.30.

Madam, perhaps it might be time for you to resign and go.

Ruchir Joshi has gone and said what a lot of newspaper pundits were tiptoeing around. Mamata Banerjee has done what even her most diehard critic didn't dream she could do writes Joshi in The Telegraph.

She has scrunched the Left Front's 34 years of sins (which she never tires of enumerating) into less than 34 weeks of her own government. It's almost as if she came armed with a checklist of mistakes to repeat and has determinedly gone through it at breakneck duronto speed.

More

New pictures of Monroe are unveiled in book published to commemorate 50th anniversary of her death. See

This was the report on the Wall Street Journal yesterday.

Economists, and industrialists are eagerly awaiting for the Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates Tuesday when it unveils its annual monetary policy, but that's far from a done deal. More

The Pulitzer Prize board dropped its own bombshell yesterday: for the first time in 35 years, there would be no Pulitzer winner for fiction.

Read the report on the NYT's India blogs.

Author JK Rowling is working on a new Harry Potter book -- an encyclopedia of the boy wizard's escapades. The 46-year-old writer made the announcement on her revamped pottermore.com site. All profits from the book will go to charity.

More on the Sun

Meanwhile, the BJP is surging ahead in all the three municipal corporations of Delhi leaving the Congress behind as counting of votes progressed for the polls held two days ago. 

Of the 17 results declared by the State Election Commission so far, BJP has bagged 16 wards in all the three corporations while Congress has won one seat. As per the trends available, BJP is leading in 131 wards out of the total 272 wards while Congress is ahead in 66 seats. Others, including BSP, is ahead 54 seats.

Details awaited on the judicial commission report on Adarsh.

Firstpost.com on the rate cut: Former US President Harry Truman famously said that he yearned for the services of a "one-handed economist' because all his economists were given to ambiguous "on the one hand ... on the other hand" equivocation.

Up until now, RBI governor D Subbarao has shown himself up to be just such a "one-handed economist'. An inflation hawk, he never wavered from the goal of taming inflation, even though he came under immense political pressure to start easing rates in order to stimulate growth, which has slipped into a lower orbit.

More

Presenting the Annual Monetary Policy Statement for the Year 2012-13 today, Dr D Subbarao, Governor, Reserve Bank of India said:

Domestically, the state of the economy is a matter of growing concern. Though inflation has moderated in recent months, it remains sticky and above the tolerance level, even as growth has slowed. Significantly, these trends are occurring in a situation in which concerns over the fiscal deficit, the current account deficit and deteriorating asset quality loom large. In this context, the challenge for monetary policy is to maintain its vigil on controlling inflation while being sensitive to risks to growth and other vulnerabilities. 

Read the full statement

RBI governor Subbarao says there will be NO pre-payment charges on home loans, which are set to get cheaper. As we said earlier, it's the first rate cut in three years.  

Rejecting the Deoband fatwa against polygamy, the radical Kashmiri women's separatist group Dukhtaran-e-Milat (DeM) has gone a step further saying a Muslim man should marry not only two but four wives.

"Islam permits a man to have four wives. There is no compromise on the tenets of Islam. The fatwa issued by Deoband Mufti is against the spirit of Islam. Therefore I will say a man should have four wives at a time,' Aasiya Andrabi, chairperson of DeM said.

Read the DNA report

As Bengal quakes at the thought of an entire term with Mamata Banerjee, in central Chile there has been strong magnitude-6.5 earthquake today, prompting authorities to order a preventative evacuation of a stretch of coastline. 

There were no immediate reports of damage or deaths, but the quake was felt almost a minute in Valparaiso and the capital, Santiago, where hundreds of people fled buildings and homes in panic. 

The Chilean navy's hydrographic and oceanographic service discounted the possibility of a tsunami, despite the order to move to higher ground affecting a stretch of coastline going from roughly 360 kms south of Santiago to 420 kms north of Chile's capital.

Here's a sampling...

SonaliRanade @sonaliranade One is comic, the other commie :p RT @dhemansvinod: @sonaliranade then what is diff between CPM & Trimool

Sachin Kalbag @SachinKalbag  Thank you, Mamata di, for a daily dose of entertainment -- TMC members barred from marrying CPM members: http://bit.ly/HZxP8h (via @calamur)

Sidharth Bhatia @bombaywallah  Cries coming from Paschimbongo-come back CPM, all is forgiven

Faking News @fakingnews  Just checked who all @quizderek is following. At least two have clear left leanings. Somebody tell Mamata Banerjee

Faking News @fakingnews  Mamata says don't marry into CPM families. Brinda and Prakash Karat agree.

Good morning. Another instance of Mamata Banerjee's state of mind.

Soon after dumping former rail minister Dinesh Trivedi for hiking fares, calling rape incidents a plot against them and getting JU professor arrested for spoof on their party leader, the Trinamool Congress is now asking its members to boycott CPM members.

Conveying the ruling party's food supplies minister Jyotipriya Mullick said: "Don't mingle with the CPM. Don't even talk to them if you meet them at a local chai (tea) shop. We have vowed to boycott the CPM socially. Our workers must make sure that nobody in their family enters into any marital relationship with any CPM leader or supporter."

Woman's plea to SC: Child marriage can't deny me job (The Times of India)
Married at 14 and divorced 13 years later, Ratnarashi has challenged a rule that says people who marry as minors are debarred from appointment in the civil services. Read

Delhi civic polls: BJP ahead in all 3 corporations in early trends  (The Times of India)
Polling for all the 272 wards spread in 3 civic bodies were held on Sunday in which 55% of the 1.15 crore voters exercised their franchise. Read

Trinamool's latest: Don't marry any CPM member (Hindustan Times)
Soon after dumping former rail minister Dinesh Trivedi for hiking fares, calling rape incidents a plot against them and getting JU professor arrested for spoof on their party leader, the Trinamool Congress is now asking its members to boycott CPM members. Read

Reserve Bank signals rate cut to boost growth (Hindustan Times)
Signaling interest rate cut to boost economy at its annual credit policy today, the Reserve Bank said it would shift the focus to arresting declining growth while keeping inflation under control. Read

All accused in 1996 Bihar Dalit carnage acquitted (The Hindu)

The carnage took place on the afternoon of July 11, 1996. Upper caste (Rajput and Bhumihar) landowners of the Ranvir Sena a private militia of the landlords stormed Bathani Tola in Bhojpur district's Sahar block in Central Bihar and ruthlessly hacked the Dalits, among them women, teenage girls and babies less than 10 months old. Read